LeBron versus Michael NBA GOAT Pod

Now that we’ve had a little time to let the 2020 NBA Season settle in, we thought it would be a great time to talk about who is the G.O.A.T Basketball player. There’s been a lot of hubbub around Michael versus LeBron so we weigh in with our takes there. We also bring Bill Russell and Kareem into the conversation about the greatest of all time.

And along the way, Tarlin makes his pitch to modernize the NBA logo, Mike brings in some random 1990s basketball references, and we commit to showing some range next time by broadening to more than the NBA. But for this show, it’s all about the GOAT of Basketball. We hope you enjoy!

Magic Johnson Announces He Has HIV

Tarlin and Mike run it back to November 7th, 1991 when Magic Johnson held an emergency press conference to announce that he had the HIV virus and that he’d be retiring from the NBA immediately. The news shocked the world and we reflect back on where we were when this flashbulb moment in sports history occurred.

Magic went on to have a storied career after the announcement – playing in the NBA All Star Game and on The Dream Team in 1992. The league responds by establishing the “Blood Rule” and working through the fears and objections of other players like Byron Scott and Karl Malone to demonstrate that even in the early 1990s, the NBA was up to the challenge of managing the medical risks of virus spread. Perhaps more importantly, it was our first experience with the confusion and misinformation of dealing with an epidemic and there are many parallels we draw between this story and much of what we’re seeing in the NBA in 2020.

Allen Iverson – Practice!?!?

Tarlin and Mike bring us back to the story of Allen Iverson which in many ways culminated in the notorious press conference in which he said the word “practice” 22 times. We explore what brought AI to that point and how in many ways it has marginalized his impact on the game and the lessons we can learn from his career.

We run it all the way back to his incredible high school career at Bethel and the incident at the bowling alley which nearly ended his basketball life before it even began. From there, we try to learn from his impact with John Thompson at Georgetown right through his career with the Philadelphia 76ers and Larry Brown.

Thanks as always for listening.